Businessman or mob boss? China’s legal system may not care

By Gillian Wong / AP, BEIJING

When more than 500 policemen swooped in to arrest 40 suspected gangsters in southern China last year, the alleged kingpin was a Los Angeles businessman who had hoisted a US flag amid a crowd to welcome now-Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to California.

Vincent Wu’s (胡煒升) children and lawyers say he is an upstanding, philanthropic Chinese-American entrepreneur who has been framed by business foes who want to seize his assets, including a nine-story shopping mall. However, police in Guangzhou say he was a ruthless mob boss who led gangsters with nicknames such as “Old Crab” and “Ferocious Mouth.”

Wu is expected to stand trial within weeks in Guangzhou on charges of heading a crime gang that kidnapped rivals, threw acid at a judge, set fire to farmers’ sheds, operated illegal gambling dens and committed other offenses. Wu has told his lawyers that police interrogators tortured him into confessing.

In the absence of an independent legal system, the truth may never emerge. And although Wu is a naturalized US citizen, US diplomats have not been able to see him because China recognizes only his residency in Hong Kong.

The case provides a glimpse into the often murky world of business in China. Widespread corruption means entrepreneurs can cozy up with police and run roughshod over the law, but they are also vulnerable if their rivals gang up with local authorities.

When disgraced politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) led Chongqing, hundreds of businesspeople were accused of involvement in organized crime; many were believed to have been tortured into confessing while authorities seized their assets. Bo was sentenced to life imprisonment last month for embezzlement, bribery and abuse of power, but allegations that the businessmen were wrongfully convicted were not aired at his trial.

Wu was detained in June last year in a dramatic predawn operation involving hundreds of police across Guangdong Province, which includes Guangzhou and Wu’s hometown of Huizhou.

He is charged with getting an associate to throw acid at a judge who ruled against him in a lawsuit and with ordering thugs to set fire to sheds owned by farmers who refused his offer of compensation to move off land he wanted to develop. He is also accused of operating illegal casinos that raked in 48 million yuan (US$7.8 million) and of attacking or kidnapping people who crossed him in various disputes. About 30 other people face related charges of gang crimes.

Wu maintains his innocence, his attorney Wang Shihua (王誓華) said.

Prior to his detention, Wu had been praised by local Chinese newspapers for giving more than 20 million yuan (US$3 million) to his hometown.

“My dad is a really good person at heart, especially to the people who are farmers and have not enough money to go to school. He’s donated money to the elderly and to help build a road,” said Wu’s daughter, Anna Wu, in an interview from Hong Kong, where she has based herself to try to draw attention to her father’s case. “But in China, money speaks louder than law ... if you want to bring someone down, you can bribe the police and certain people to make it happen.”

Huang Xiaojun (黃小軍), a former business partner of Wu’s and one of his accusers, said it is Wu who exploited government corruption. Huang said Wu tried to kidnap him four times and sought to seize his share of their business by bribing court officials.